


The Agony and the Ecstasy of Being a Lightweight

by gladsomemind



Series: TMATNB [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-25
Updated: 2008-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-21 12:03:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6050953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gladsomemind/pseuds/gladsomemind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Companion piece to The Morning After the Night Before (reading the first might make this make more sense but probably not). </p><p>There were two people in that bed that morning. </p><p>Old LJ Fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Agony and the Ecstasy of Being a Lightweight

The hands tied above his head were actually alright, the rope hadn’t been tied that tightly round his wrists so there was no threat to circulation and there was enough slack in the rope that there was actually a fair range of motion possible. Using his scarf as a gag though, that had been a mean trick, the slack in the rope wasn’t enough to reach down and untie it and it could have been cleaner than it actually was if it was going to end up in his mouth.  
  
Pulling the pillow over his head had been the only defence he could muster when Arthur had started to snore loudly after passing out on his back the night before. Quite how much the Prince had drunk, so he had collapsed, was still a mystery. The two flagons he had drunk had been a complete and utter mistake. A half was normally his safe limit and then only of the mildest ale, what was served the night before must have been evil.  
  
Arthur’s bed was much nicer than his own, which was only to be expected. The ropes were tight and the mattress much thicker. So when he finally fell asleep the night before it was into quite a deep sleep. A hand on his arse had woken him in the morning and it had been all he could do not to laugh out loud when Arthur had fallen off the bed, serves him right for leaving his companion tied up through the night.  
  
The clattering and the banging as the prince made his way around the room were ridiculously loud, especially as the other man was probably trying to be quiet about it. The amount of time spent at the commode just brought to light the amount of work that was going to have to be done later in the day to make the rooms habitable before the prince got back at the end of the day. He was just thankful that, pissed or not, his bladder had been emptied the night before so the need for relief now wasn’t as pressing.  
  
When the prince came back and stood at the side of the bed it took of his restraint not to squirm under the gaze and all he couldn’t stop himself from groaning a little. More stumbling and clattering noises followed and a few minutes later the rope holding his arms went slack and a blanket was brought over his exposed form.   
  
The sound of the door opening and closing marked the end of Arthur’s stumbling around the room but it was several long minutes later before the body in the bed started to move.  
  
Pulling the pillow from over his head it went under it as Merlin rolled over to lie face up on the bed. Bringing his hands down he removed the gag and then started to work on the knots. Drunk or not Arthur still managed to tie a very secure knot and it took more than a little magic to undo them. The red marks that were left would need to be carefully disguised, or at least kept covered.  
  
Stone cold sober Merlin finally sat up in the bed and wondered where Arthur had thrown his clothes to the night before and tried not to think about how the same night would have ruined the uneasy truce the two had had going over the past couple of months. Ruined or not he wasn’t actually fired at this point. Even if he was later it would be unfair to whoever got stuck with the job next to leave the rooms in the state they were in at the minute.  
  
Getting out of the bed he spotted his trousers flung into the furthest corner of the room. Pulling them on he was relieved that his shirt was nearby. Boots would come to light as the room was cleaned and it was this that Merlin started on next.  
  
Clean the room, gather the laundry, drop it off with the washerwomen and then get back to his own room and hide for a little while. That sounded like an eminently sensible plan, with perhaps one small detour to the kitchen to get some bread to fill that gnawing hole in his stomach. Time enough to see the prince later. 

***

Time enough turned into lunchtime when Merlin got called to take the knights' lunch out to the training field. Arthur, still looking the worse for wear, came over and promptly announced, “Merlin, you are still the worst servant in the entire castle. The most basic of your tasks is to bring my breakfast and help prepare me for the day ahead. Once again you completely fail to show.”  
  
Merlin looked at Arthur and the surrounding knights, unsure how to respond. He really didn’t think that ‘What? You drag me from a perfectly pleasant conversation with Gwen and Morgana. Take me to your room, order me to strip, spank me for ‘flirting’, tie me up, pass out _on_ me and are actually giving me grief for not managing to untangle myself to get your breakfast!’ would go down very well so settled for “Sorry, sire.”  
  
He turned to leave and was brought up short by the realisation that Arthur too had been drinking more than usual the night before, indeed far more than Merlin had drunk, and quite possibly had no recollection of the actual events of the previous evening. Merlin’s head had been covered the entire time the Prince had been awake that morning and so there had been no real prompt to let the him know that it was Merlin trussed like the proverbial slab of meat in his bed. With a smile to himself Merlin thought, ‘this, now this could be fun.’


End file.
